hi everyone, i just posted these 2 among many photo images of new trend in poaching of small mammals at an unprecedented rate in mt Kenya , i have witnessed in my last 7 years i have been collecting data on ornithology and in particular the Abyssinian Lon geared Owl.i have witnessed 2 wild fires in 2012 February and this year. i have noted much illegal activities around and within the forest too from logging to poaching for bush meat.but while some activities are permitted they end up destroying more than conserving the ecosystem.the forest integrated management seems to have failed or wrong approach applied  all together,conflicting interest between forest management group like the CFA(Community forest Management) and others like the CWM(Community Wildlife Management).Bee keeping in Mt Kenya is encouraged and permitted and registered within individuals but monitoring has failed,who is keeping how many hives and where and the best time to harvest which is in most of the time falls in between January to March periods and September to October  of each year.such planning of hive keeping should be kept within a given range like  not past 3 km from the fence and any interested person should form a groups and each groups to be "leased" a given range,otherwise anyone putting up his hive anywhere just because a suitable log to make hive is available at a distance even in the moorland does not add up.i have noted that most of the registered and unregistered honey collectors have turned to poaching of small mammals tracking them down in their trails and with back packs for honey they carry the bush meat out easily.using nylon made lopes which has become the most effective way to bring even a large bush-back down.with the tread we are going to loose even the most rare species.the issue of reviewing the hives and honey issues should addressed at both local and national level to minimize human  activities in our forest as well as cattle and goats restricting ranges zone.The most Affected areas are Ruthumbi,Castle,Chuka,Chogoria basin of Mt Kenya  forest these parts of the country i was offered bush meat at 300sh per kilo.

          These two photos of maybe a hunters dog and herves duiker? caught by a nylon snare were rescued by my team last week.am hoping the insight,views and information's i have shared with the management of these forest  resources will be looked at . most Women around our forest are not  actively  involved in many forest activities except like in tree nursery and since forest activities are banned from last year the have resulted to  be illegal forest loggers to raise money for shamas groups(table banking).conservation groups can as well look at these issues to come up with solutions to future fires, minimizing forest produces over-reliance and recovery of the forest while positive use of our resources is enhanced.this is part of additional report am compiling.

                 with regards 

                                       Paul(Owl man)